Unless you live in a solid concrete house in Houston, termites are an ever-present threat. While you sleep, party, and relax in your home, thousands of termites may be busy chewing through wood beams, joists, subfloors, and more. Over several months or years, consistent, daily actions of termites result in warping doors, sagging floors, or collapsing structures costing homeowners thousands of dollars in costly repairs.
Even if you do not suspect termites, you owe it to yourself to have the Houston pest control professionals from All-Safe Pest & Termite do a complete inspection of your Houston home. Preemptive and preventative actions will save you from future costly repairs, which most insurance policies do not cover.
About The Termite Caste System
The two types of termites in Houston causing significant damage to homes are the subterranean and Formosan termites. These social termites create colonies of three caste systems: soldiers, workers, and reproductives.
The largest group in the caste system is the workers. Workers have 1/4 inch, cream-colored, wingless bodies; and are responsible for the creation and maintenance of the colony. They chew and remove wood using their jaws, excavate materials from the nest, and feed the soldiers and reproductives.
The soldiers are also wingless, but their large mandibles, flat and wide cream bodies, and rectangular-shaped darker heads distinguish them from workers. As the name implies, the primary task of soldiers is to guard the colony against predators such as ants. Soldiers constitute about 2% of a subterranean termite colony but comprise up to 15% of the aggressive Formosan termites.
Reproductives are the flying termites around your property responsible for creating new colonies. During the spring, when the air is humid after heavy rain, the winged termites leave the nest in swarms. As they swarm, the males and females pair up and break off from the group to become the queen and king of a new colony.
Why Termites Infest Wooden Structures
The two subterranean termite species in Houston feed on rotten, moist wood in contact with the soil. The fungi-causing odors of rotting wood attract subterranean termites because they instinctively know the wood will be easier to digest and penetrate. Subterranean termites in your home will be near moist wood.
Unlike dry wood termites, which get moisture from the wood they consume, subterranean termites get water from the soil. Because subterranean termites are highly susceptible to dehydration, they create mud tubes for transportation to avoid exposure to the sun; the conduits also protect them from predators. The sight of mud tubes on foundation walls is evidence of termites in your Houston home.
How To Remove Factors That Attract Termites To Your Home
While we like our Houston home to be attractive to people, we want them to be unattractive to termites. Do the following to make your home to prevent a termite problem:
- Repair leaky plumbing
- Dehumidify the crawlspace
- Remove and replace damaged wood
- Clear any wood debris off the property
- Direct water drainage away from the foundation
- Create an 18-inch barrier between mulch and the foundation
Taking preventative action will save you money and will stop future infestations.
Contact The Professionals For The Best Termite Protection
To avoid costly repairs from termite damage, you need the termite specialists for your Houston property: All-Safe Pest & Termite. We have extensive pest control training and experience with the Sentricon® system. Using our expertise, we can identify the type of termite infesting your home, create a custom treatment plan, and work with you to identify and rectify problem areas on your property. Contact us today for a thorough inspection of the interior and exterior of your Houston home.